Nov. 26, 2009

MEMPHIS, TENN. -

The Tiger Football team will close out its 2009 season with a Friday afternoon Conference USA matchup at Tulsa.  Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be carried live by CBS College Sports.  Dave Ryan and Akbar Gbaja-Biamil will handle the announcing in the booth.

The game will be the 110^th and final game for head coach Tommy West, as well as the final meeting for twenty-five Tiger seniors.   West has led the Tigers to five bowl games, including victories in the 2003 New Orleans Bowl and the 2005 Motor City Bowl.  The 2003 bowl appearance was the first for the Tiger program since the 1971 Pasadena Bowl.  For the second-straight game, senior captains Will Hudgens, Curtis Steele and Greg Jackson will represent the Tigers for the mid-field coin toss.  The three were selected prior to the Houston game as the permanent captains for the team.

Memphis holds an 8-5 series advantage in games played in Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane won the last encounter played in Tulsa, a 37-31 overtime win. The last Memphis victory in Tulsa came in the 1994 campaign. The Tigers won that game 42-18.

Steele Ties DeAngelo Williams for Quickest 2,000 Yards On The Ground

Curtis Steele is only the seventh player in school history to total more than 2,000 yards rushing.  What’s even more impressive is that he amassed his 2,000th yard in his 21st career game (vs. UAB), tying Tiger great DeAngelo Williams, for the quickest to 2,000 yards on the ground.

Steele needed 153 yards in the final two games of the season to log his second 1,000-yard campaign.  He did that in just one game against Houston, rolling off 160 yards on 28 carries. He is now only the second back in school history to have multiple 1,000-yard years --- with the other being Williams, of course.  Williams had four solid years with the Tigers and holds the school record with 6,026 yards in 44 games.  Steele boasts 1,007 yards and 11 touchdowns on 179 carries.  Heading into the Tulsa game, he ranks 15th nationally in rushing. 

Steele Second With 11 100-Yard Games

In his first season for the Tigers, running back Curtis Steele logged six 100-yard rushing games.  He is tied for fourth all-time in 100-yard rushing games in a single season with Gerard Arnold who tallied six in 1998.   In 2009, Steele has logged five 100-yard rushing games to bring his career total to 11 games over the century mark.  He is tied for second all-time with Arnold, who logged 11 games of 100-plus yards from 1997-99.  His 100-yard games this season were: 240 yards against UTEP; 136 yards at Southern Miss; 144 yards on the road at Tennessee; 107 versus UAB and 160 at Houston.

Hudgens Is In Tiger Top 10

Will Hudgens’ career at Memphis has been marked by several early season-ending injuries, and despite only starting 10 career games, Hudgens ranks in the all-time Tiger Top 10 for quarterbacks.  The numbers are impressive considering that Hudgens has only had 13 total career games where he has attempted 15 or more passes.  Heading into the Tulsa game, Hudgens ranks 8th in pass attempts (430); 6th in completions (240), 7th in yardage (2,681), 9th in TD passes (18) and 4th in completion percentage (55.8). 

Steele Is Top Tiger Scoring Threat

Curtis Steele has scored rushing touchdowns in 11 of his last 15 games played and totals 17 TDs on the ground during the stretch.  He leads the team in scoring heading into the Tulsa game with 72 points.  The Franklin, Tenn., native also ranks tied for 21st all-time with 114 career points for the Tigers.

Steele Moves Up Through Tiger Top 10

For the last five straight weeks, Curtis Steele has moved up on the Tiger Top 10 all-time rushing yardage list.   He entered the Tiger Top 10 in career rushing following the Southern Miss game, and with his 76 yards a week later against East Carolina, Steele moved up to the No. 9 position.  Steele then jumped to the No. 8 spot with his 144 yards against Tennessee; and advanced to No. 7 with his 107 yards versus UAB.  With his 160 yard against Houston, he advanced two spots to No. 5.

Steele enters the Tulsa game with 2,230 career yards, and will need 109 yards to continue the trend and take over the No. 4 spot that is currently held by Joseph Doss, who totaled 2,339 yards from 2004-07.  He is the only player in the top 10 to play only two years at Memphis.

Calhoun & Singleton Top Receivers in Memphis History

Following the East Carolina game, Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton officially became the top two receivers all-time at the U of M.   The only category that had the two separated heading into the ECU game was receptions as Singleton was third behind Damien Dodson.  With his nine catches versus the Pirates, Singleton jumped Dodson for the No. 2 spot.  Calhoun holds the top spot in receptions (208), yardage (2,956) and 100-yard games (10), while Singleton holds the record in TD receptions (22).

Calhoun could become only the 10th receiver in Conference USA history to amass 3,000 or more yards receiving.  He only needs 44 yards in the final game of the season.

Regular Season Finales

Memphis has won its last five regular season finales, and has a 5-3 record in regular season finales under head coach Tommy West. Even in the three setbacks in regular season finales, Memphis dropped narrow decisions in those outings. In fact, the three losses were by an average of 4.7 points per contest.

The Last Time That...

The Tigers are finishing the 2009 campaign with back-to-back road games. Memphis played at Houston last Saturday and closes the year at Tulsa on Friday.  The last time Memphis finished a season with consecutive road contests was in 2004. The Tigers finished the 2004 regular season with back-to-back road wins at East Carolina 38-35 and USF 31-15.  On the other hand, Memphis closed regular seasons with consecutive home games four times in the Coach Tommy West era. The Tigers finished the 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2008 years with back-to-back home contests.

A Close Series

While Memphis may hold a 14-8 series lead over Tulsa, the wins for both teams have been hard fought ones. Of the 22 games in the series, 10 have been decided by single digits, and the average margin of victory in those 10 games is 4.4 points.  To take it further, five more contests were decided by less than two touchdowns. The average margin of victory in the 22-game series is 12.5 points.

Tiger Streak Tied for Second Nationally

Duke Calhoun recorded 17 yards on five receptions against Houston and advanced his receiving streak to 48 games.  He is ranked tied for second nationally in active receiving streaks.  Calhoun has caught a pass in each of his 48 games in a Tiger uniform. He leads the receiving corps this season with 64 catches for 898 yards, while also holding the school record with 10 career 100-yard games.  Below is a listing of the top active streaks:

51 - Bryan Anderson (C. Michigan)

48 - Naaman Roosevelt (Buffalo)

48 - Duke Calhoun (Memphis)

41 - Dennis Pitta (BYU)

39 - Brandon LaFell (LSU)

38 - Antonio Brown (Central Michigan)

37 - Toren Dixon (Rice)

36 - Scotty McNight (Colorado)

35 - Jeff Moturi (UTEP)

35 - Jason Harmon (Florida Atlantic)

34 - Eric Decker (Minnesota)

34 - Kerry Meier (Kansas)

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